Folding partition



VJuly 1 `1924.

H. w. MAURER FOLDING PARTITION l92l 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filedl July 9 6W a M ,.W w 4L .2:EN:o H .uM/1 \1 mw H w M 1 w@ M M, w l 6;..- ,.---..w. um I KR 3 A Z MW l ,fu wmf@ N v M--..9 .5 if m. /8 w f f w www `Fully l, 1924. 2,499,678

H. w. MAURER FOLDING PARTITION Filed July 9.41921 2 sheets-smeg 2 is: :z 9 2^ 14 E, zo 1 36 34 35 )41 52 Patented `lilly l, 1924.

' HERMAN W. MAURER, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

FOLDING PARTITION.

Application led July 9, 1921. Serial No. 483,540.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN W. MAURER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Partitions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to folding parti tions for dividing rooms and other similar purposes and more particularly to partitions of flexible material which will permit folding of same.

The main object of the invention is to provide a folding partition which when unfolded may be locked to the Hoor to hold the partition securely in a stretched position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a folding partition having spaced walls toprevent the penetration of sounds therethru.

.Another object of the invention is to provide a folding partition of inexpensive construction and that is convenient and easy to operate.

With the above and other objects in view as will be readily understood, the invention will be hereinafter fully described as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof will be distinctly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference are used to designate corresponding parts. i

Figure 1 illustrates a pair of sections ofl a folding partition constructed in accordance with my invention, one of the sections being in its closed position and the other being in the open position,

Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1, the near side of each section being omitted to better show the construction,

Fig. l3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2,l

Fig. 5 is a `sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 6 is a similar view taken-on line 6-6 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on -line 5--5 of Fig. 2, illustrating the mechanism for supporting the upper edges of the sides of the partition,

Fi 8 is a similar view taken on line 6 6 of Flg. 2, illustrating the means for forcing the upper inner end of the partition inwardly and for holding the corners thereof in vertical alinement.

Fig. 9 illustrates a front view of the means for locking the sections to the floor,

Fig. 10 is an end view of same, and

Fig. 11 is a plan view illustrating the arrangement of the pulley Wheels xed to the board to which is hinged the floor board.

Referring to the'drawings, 1 represents the floor of a room, 2 and 3 opposite side walls, and 4 the ceiling. In .dividing a room by means of the partition of this invention, it is preferable to employ two similar sections as v5 and 6, which extend from the side walls 2 and 3 and meet in the center of the room, Each section consists of a vertical board 7 which is fixed to the respective side walls 2 and 3, and from this board extends a short piece of board 8 which is fastened to the floor. To the board 8 is hinged at 9 a ioor board 10, which extends almost t the center of the room and is adapted to swin upwardl Sides 11 and 12 of canvas or ot er suitab e flexible material are fixed to the edo-es of the vertical board 7, the short piece ofxlooard 8 and the floor board 10, by tacks 13, and the inner edges of said sides are connected by a vertical strip of canvas 14, which passes under said Hoor board and is secured thereto and to the lower end of said sides. The upper edges of the sides 11 and 12 are supported by means of hooks 15 passing .thru e elets 16, which are fastened to said sides.

ach of the hooks l5 depends from a cross bar 17, which is supported by a pair of roller-wheels as 18 at its ends, and said pair of roller-wheels are adapted to travel within the respective slotted tracks 19 and 20, which are fixed by screws as 21 to the ceiling 4 above the sides 11 and 12. Any suitable device may be employed for holding v the board 10 and therefore the lower edge of the partition to the ioor, as for instance a spring catch 22 fixed to the edge of said board, which catch is adapted to engage a keeper member 23 projecting from the oor.

For drawing the partition into its folded up position, the floor board 10 is lifted upon its hinge 9 and the upper part of the partition moved inwardly by means of the following described mechanism. A cord 24 having one of its ends attached at 25 to the iioor board passes thrul rings 26 at. tached ti) the inside of the side 12 and ar ranged in the are of a circle, then over a pulley 27. supported by the vertical board 7 'and under apulley-wheel 28 tixed to the short piece of board 8. The cord 24 then passeso'ver a sheave of a floating double pulley-block 29,'and under a pulley-wheel 30 also fixed to the floor board. 8, then upwardly and over a ,pulley-31 supported by the vertical board 7, and then thru rings 32 attached to the inside of said side 12 and also arranged in the form .of the arc of a circle, and its free end is fastened at 33 to the floor board 10. A cord 34 similarly arranged is connected with the side 11 as is the cord 24 with the side 12, has its ends fastened to the floor board 10 at points 35 and 36 opposite 25 and 33, and passes over pulleys 37 and 38 opposite the pulleys 27 and 31., and under pulleywheels 39 and 40 opposite the pulley-wheels 28 and 30, and its looped part therebetween over the other sheave of the iioating double pulley-block 29. A ullrope 41 is attachedto the eye of the oating double pulley-block 29, and passes upwardly thru an opening in the ceiling, then over a pulley 42 and downwardly over a pulley 43 and at its free end is a handle 44, a suitable means as 45 may be employed to hold the free endv of the pull-rope to retain the partition in its folded up position.

In order to cause the upper inner ends of the sections of l,the partition to be forced to the center of the room when said sections are being closed and to hold the edgesof said inner ends of the sections for their entire height in close contact when closed, the following described mechanism is employed for each section. A belt 46 is at'- tached at its lower end 47 to the inner end of the floor board 10 and extending upwardly passes over a flanged roller 48, which is rotatably mounted upon a shaft 49 supported at each end from pairs of roller-wheels as 50, similar to the rollerwheels 18, and like them also adapted to travel in the before mentioned slotted tracks 19 and 20. The upper end of the belt 46 is attached to the center of the ceiling 4 at 51. Ropes 52 and 53 are adapted to hold the corners of the inner end of each section of the partition in rigid alinement when the sections are closed, and for this purpose are attached to the shaft 49 at 54 and 55, and their lower ends to suitable coiled springs 56 and 57, which are connected to the'floor board 10 at 58 and 59. The belt 46 forces the roller 48 to its original posit-ion upon the pushing downwardly of the fioor board 10 to close the section of the partition, the coiled springs 56 and 57 prevent said floor board from falling suddenly to the fioor and thereby making a noise,

and the ropes 52 and 53 being forced into :insecte the inner corners ofthe sectionfholding same in vertical alinement. 1 i

When the sections 5 and 6 of the partition are closed and the catches 22 'engage the keeper member 23, each section is held in a stretched position, and thc inner edges thereofare also held in vertical alinement and in close contact with each other. As there is an air space between -the sides 11 and 12 of the sections, there is little chance for sound penetrating therethru. To pull back or fold up the sections of the partition, it is only necessary to release the catch 22 and pull downwardly upon the handle 44 of the pull ropes 41; and by connecting said handles to the locking means 45, the sections will be held in their open positions. The

sections of the partition are readily closed by disconnecting the handles 44 from 45, whereupon the weight of the floor board 10 and lower portions of the sections will fall, thereby causing the belt 46 to force the roller 48 towards the center of the room. The floor boards 10 are then pushed downwardly so that they may be locked to the floor by means of the catches 22, and this causes the ropes 52 and 53 to be forced inta the inner corners of the sections thereby holding the same in a vertical position and in close contact.

lt will be understood that the details of construction of this partition ma be changed from those illustrated an described and still accomplish the desired results without departing from the scope of the claims.

Having fully described my invention what l claim is:

1. lin a folding partition, the combination of a pair of sides of flexible material, a support, the sides being arranged in spaced relation and having their outer edges attached to said support, a strip of flexible material connecting the inner edges of said sides, means for supporting the upper edges of said sides, a board, the board being arranged between the lower edges of said sides, the lower edges of said sides being attached to said board, the board being hinged at its outer end to a fixed support and means for swinging said board upwardly to fold the partition, substantially as described.

2. ln a folding partition, the combination of a pair of sides of flexible material, a support, the sides being arranged in spaced relation and having their outer edges attached to said support, a strip of iiexible material connecting the inner edges of said sides, means for supporting the upper edges of said sides to allow the inner edge thereof to move longitudinally, a board, the board being arranged between the lower edges of said sides, the lower edges of said sides being attached to said board, the board being hinged at its outer end to a fixed support and means arranged between said sides whereby said board may be swung upwardly to fold the partition, substantially as descrlbed. D

3. In a folding partition, the combination of a pair of sides of fiexible material, a support., the sides being arranged in spaced relation and having their outer edges attached to said support, a strip of flexible material connecting the inner edges of said sides, means for supporting the upper edges of said sides to allow Ithe inner edge thereof to move longitudinally, a board, the board being arranged between the lower ed es of said sides, the lower edges of said si es being attached to said board, the board being hinged at its outer end to a fixed support, a pair of cords, pulleys, the cords being 'attached to said board and passing over said pulleys, pairs of pulley-wheels, a second palr of pulleys, the free ends of said cords passing under said pairs of pulley-wheels and over said second pair of pulleys and being attached to said board, and means whereby said cords may be pulled upwardly between said pairs of pulley-wheels for swinging said board upwardly to fold the partitlon, substantially as described.

4. In a folding partition, the combination of a pair of sides of flexible material, a support, the sides being arranged in spaced relation and having their outer edges attached to said support, a strip of fiexible material connecting the inner edges of said sides, means for supporting the upper edges of said sides to allow the inner edge thereof to move longitudinally, a board, the board being arranged between the lower edges of said sides, the lower edges of said sides being attached to said board, the board being hinged at its outer end to al fixed support, a pair of cords, pulleys, the cords being attached to said board`and passing over said pulleys, pairs of pulley-wheels, a second pair of pulleys, the free ends of said cords passingunder said pairs of pulley-wheels and over said second pair of pulleys and being attached to said board, a double pulleyblock, portions of said cords between said pairs of pulley-wheels passing thru the double pulley-block, and a pull-rope attached to said double pulley-block whereby said board may be swung upwardly to fold the partition, substantially7 as described.

5. In a folding partition, the combination of a pair of sides of flexible material, a support, the sides being arranged in spaced relation and having their outer edges attached to said support, a strip of fieXible material connecting the inner edges of said sides, means for supporting the upper edges of said sides to allow the inner edge thereof to move longitudinally, a board, the board being arranged between the lower edges of said sides, the lower edges of said sides being attached to said board, the board being hinged at its outer end to a fixed support, a pair of cords, ulle s, the cords being attached to said oar and passing over said pulleys, pairs of pulley-wheels, a second pair of pulleys, the free ends of said cords passingunder said pairs of pulley-wheels and over said'second pair of pulleys and being attached to said board, and means whereby said cords may be pulled upwardly between said pairs of pulley-wheels passing thru the double pulley-block, a pull rope attached to sai-d double pulley block whereby said board may be swung u wardly to'fold the partition, and means or holding the pull-rope to hold the partition in locked position, substantially as described.

6. In a folding partition, the combination of a pair of sides of flexible material, a support, the sides being arranged in spaced relation and having their outer edges attached to said support, a strip of iiexible material connecting the inner edges of said sides, means for supporting the upper edges of said sides, a board, the board being arranged between the lower edges of said sides, the lower edges of said sides being attached to said board, the board being hinged at its outer end to a fixed support, means for holding said board in its down position, and means for swinging said board upwardly to fold the partition, substantially as described.

7 In a foldingpartition, the combination of a pair of sides of flexible material, a support, the sides bein arranged in spaced relation and having teir outer edges attached to said support, a strip of flexible material connecting the inner edges of said sides means for supporting the upper edges of said sides to allow the inner edge thereof to move longitudinally, a board, the board being arranged between the lower edges of said sides, the lower edges of said sides being attached to said board the board being hinged at its outer end to a fixed support, means for holding said board at its down position, means for holding said inner corner edges of said sides in vertical alinement, and means for swinging said board upwardly to fold the partition, substantially as described.

8. In a folding partition, the combination of a pair of sides of flexible material, a support, the sides being arranged in spaced relation and having their outer ed es attached to said support, a strip of flexi le material connecting the inner edges of said sides means for supporting the upper edges of said sides to allow the inner edge thereof to move longitudinally, a board, the board being arranged between the lower edges of said sides, the lower edges of said sides being attached to said board, the board being.

hinged at its outer end to a fixed support, means for swinging said board upwardly to fold the partition, and means for forcing the inner side of the partition inwardly material connecting the inner edges of said sides, a pair of tracks, roller-wheels in the tracks, the -rollerwheels supporting the upper edges of said sides, a board, the board being arranged between the lower edges of Maaate 'the roller-wheels supporting the upper edges of said sides, a board, the board eing arranged between the lower edges oi? said sides, the lowerv edges of said sides being attached to said board, the boardv being hinged at its outer end to a Xed support, a shaft, a roller rotatably mounted upon the shaft, ropesI supported from said shaft and attached to`said board, the ropes being attached to said board whereby they will be Said sides, the lower edges of said sides being\\0rCed into the inner COrIlers of the partiattached to said board, the board being hinged at its outer end to a ixed support, ropes supported by said roller-wheels adjacent the inner sides of the partition, and the ropes being attached to said board whereby they will be forced into the inner corners of the partition when said board swings downwardly to hold said cornersin vertical alineinent, substantially as described.

10. ln a folding partition, the combination of a pair of sides of flexible material, a support, the sides being arranged in spaced relation and having` their outer edges attion when said board swings downwardly to hold said corners in Vertical alinement, a belt attached to said board, the belt passing over said` roller, and the free end ot the 1 belt being attached above said roller whereby when said board is swung downwardly said belt will force said roller inwardly to move the inner side of the partition toward the center, substantially as described.

.lln testimony whereof lt aiiix my signature.

HERMAN W. MAllJRlEl. 

